What determines an "Official: or "Unoffical" 40 yard dash time at the Combine

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The "unofficial" tims are hand times with a stop watch. The "official" times are done electronically, and are much more accurate than a human clicking a stop watch...

This is incorrect. At the combine, the first run is electronically timed, as is the second run. There are no stop watches there, except possibly from the scouts in the stands. They explained this very clearly on NFL Network.

The "official" time is the second run because they feel this is closer to game conditions, with the players being somewhat winded.

Hell, just watch the NFL Network's feed, and compare it to their " official " times.. every single one was the 2nd run by the person. I guess it's just a coincidence eh?

This is incorrect. At the combine, the first run is electronically timed, as is the second run. There are no stop watches there, except possibly from the scouts in the stands. They explained this very clearly on NFL Network.

The "official" time is the second run because they feel this is closer to game conditions, with the players being somewhat winded.

Hell, just watch the NFL Network's feed, and compare it to their " official " times.. every single one was the 2nd run by the person. I guess it's just a coincidence eh?

Then how did Chris Johnson's official 40 time go down from his unofficial time?

There actually is no single, "official" 40 time at the NFL Combine. National Scouting, which runs the combine, provides three times per run, two fully hand-held and one stopped electronically. Each player may run twice, thereby yielding a potential six times. National Scouting provides all six of these times to NFL teams. The teams then do what they want with those times, or ignore them. Some teams use the best electronic time. Some teams throw out the fastest and slowest and average the rest. Some teams use the best time provided. And some teams use a time provided by their own scout on site.

Then how did Chris Johnson's official 40 time go down from his unofficial time?

His second run he ran a 4.24.

According to the E-mail I got from NFL.com, they take their 2nd run, and just correct when the timer is started. If you'll notice, they will line up, and run at their own pace. They have to set themselves, and can take off whenever they wish. Apparently the clock is started based solely on eyesight, and it is stopped once they break the line, which trips the computer timer.

They super slow motion replay and make sure it was started as soon as possible, and basically break down a 4.35 second run over the period of 1 minute, making sure it is as close to accurate as possible.

Appears we were both wrong, but were both right in a sense. Hope that clears up any confusion.